The Lipid Library

Fatty Acids and Eicosanoids

These pages comprise a series of documents describing the structures, occurrence, biochemistry and functions of fatty acids and eicosanoids.

Fatty acids are the basic building blocks of most of the compounds that we term 'lipids'. Indeed, some consider them the defining component of lipids. Well over a thousand different fatty acids have been identified in nature, including nearly 500 in one source - cow's milk. Certain fatty acids are essential components of the diet ,as they cannot be synthesised by animals. While much of the interest is concerned with fatty acids as components of lipids, there is increasing evidence that certain fatty acids have specific functions in their own right, for example by interactiing with cell nuclei.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids from the omega-6 and omega-3 families are the biosynthetic precursors of the prostaglandins and other eicosanoids, including the leukotrienes, thromboxanes, lipoxins and so forth. Isoprostanes are derived similarly but through non-enzymic reactions. In addition, docosanoids such as the resolvins and protectins are derived from docosahexaenoic acid, while plant hormones like the jasmonates are derived from α-linolenic acid. These fascinating compounds have profound biological properties at minute concentrations.

PDF files of each topic are available for download at the end of web-pages. Related lipids are grouped together in the documents listed below, but there are shortcuts to a full list of individual lipid classes here.

Updated: 21/2/2008 Credits/disclaimer	Scottish Crop Research Institute (and MRS Lipid Analysis Unit), Invergowrie, Dundee (DD2 5DA), Scotland